May Book Update

So, in 2018, I'm taking a slightly different approach to blogging about my reading - I'm not really worrying about the in/out balance or how many books I read each month versus how many have been removed from the list. My only goal in 2018 is to read at least 100 books (as usual), so I'll be counting towards that, and noting books I read, acquire, get rid of, etc, but only for interest. I'm tired of feeling guilty if I acquire new books!

In January:  books read: 7; books otherwise removed: 3; books in: 7; books on windowsill: 62
In February: books read: 6; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3;  books on windowsill: 61
In March: books read: 8; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 5;  books on windowsill: 60
In April: books read: 13; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 6; books on windowsill: 61
In May: books read: 10 ; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 2; books on windowsill: 60

And here's the breakdown for this month: 

• I started and abandoned one book I really didn't get into (The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus)
• I read 4 children's books to check suitability for my class (Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne, Boy 87 by Ele Fountain, The Girl Savage by Katharine Rundell, A Room Full of Chocolate by Jane Elson)
• ...and one book from my classroom, which I started while timing a test where I couldn't help the pupil but only watch the clock - for an hour (Holes by Louis Sachar)
• I read one book from my list (The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon)
• I re-read a couple of books in the house, one of which I was going to send to the charity shop, but thought I'd read first (Ghostwritten by David Mitchell, Hens Dancing by Rafaella Barker)
• I read one book in a series Geoff and I both like, which I recently realised I'd got a little behind on (A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny)
• I finally finished a non-fiction book from my list which I've been reading in small bits for some time (The Button Box by Lynn Knight)
• I bought one book from AbeBooks - the second in a series I started (The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon)
• I bought a book in Waterstones which I've eagerly been awaiting in paperback (New Boy by Tracy Chevalier)

Here's the updated list of Books to Read in 2018. These are the books hanging out on my windowsill upstairs, waiting to be read. Or discarded. But hopefully, read. I started the year with 60 books on this list - you can see how long the books have been knocking around by the dates in brackets.

1. Ford Maddox Ford, Parade's End (Nov 2012 - birthday present - bought after the BBC adaptation - but I knew I wouldn't read it straight away as I wanted to let time pass from the adaptation.  Enough time has probably passed now...)
2. Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (2014)
3. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (would be a re-read, bought shortly after his death - spring 2014 - as I was reminded how much I enjoyed it and I didn't seem to own a copy - think my old one fell apart, probably...) 
4. Philip Baruth, The Brothers Boswell (Waterstones Canterbury bargain bin, July 2015)
5. Daphne du Maurier, Frenchman's Creek (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
6. Daphne du Maurier, Jamaica Inn (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
7. Alice Munro, Runaway (Waterstones Piccadilly, March 2016)
8. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
9. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
10. Neil MacGregor, Germany: Memories of  a Nation (birthday present, Nov 2016) (This book isn't technically on my windowsill, it's downstairs because I keep thinking I might have a go at reading it, but haven't really got around to it yet...)
11. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
12. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
13. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
14. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
15. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
16. Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (charity shop, April 2017)
17. Rachel Ward, Numbers 2: The Chaos (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
18. Rachel Ward, Numbers 3: Infinity (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
19. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
20. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
21. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
22. Hella Haasse, The Tea Lords (Bookhandel von Rossum, Amsterdam, August 2017)
23. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
24. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
25. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
26. Bi Fieyu, Three Sisters (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
27. Ali Smith, Autumn (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
28. Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
29. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
30. Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient (November 2017, book was in the house already, added after I read Divisadero and realised I'd never actually read this one.)
31. Grayson Perry, The Descent of Man (December 2017, RA Gift Shop)
32. Sarah J Maas, Court of Thorns and Roses (Christmas present, 2017)
33. Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale (Christmas present, 2017)
34. Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter (charity shop, December 2017)
35. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
36. Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders (W H Smith, January 2018)
37. Matt Haig, How to Stop Time (W H Smith, January 2018)
38. Bernie MacLaverty, Midwinter Break (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
39. Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
40. Clare Vanderpool, Moon over Manifest (was in the house, moved to my shelf Feb 2018)
41. Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
42. Mohsin Hamid, Exit West (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
43. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)
44. Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall (Waterstones online, March 2018)
45. Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer (Waterstones online, March 2018)
46. ed. Tracy Chevalier, Reader I Married Him (Waterstones online, March 2018)
47. Bella Pollen, Hunting Unicorns (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
48. Diana Rosie, Alberto's Lost Birthday (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
49. Jojo Moyes, The Last Letter from your Lover (Charity Shops, March 2018)
50. Jojo Moyes, Sheltering Rain (Charity Shops, March 2018)
51. Sebastian Faulkes, A Week in December (Charity Shops, March 2018)
52. Marcus Zusak, I am the Messenger (Charity Shops, March 2018)
53. Jose Saramago, Blindness (Lisbon, April 2018)
54. Margaret Atwodd, Oryx and Crake (passed on by Geoff, April 2018)
55. The Killing Moon, N K Jemisin (Waterstones online, April 2018)
56. The End we start from, Megan Hunter (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
57. If we were Villains, M L Rio (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
58. Spark, Alice Broadway (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
59. The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (Abe Books, May 2018)
60. New Boy, Tracy Chevalier (Waterstones Kingston, May 2018)